Sunday, June 1, 2014

A Saturday night ritual for us is a trip to Doumar's in Norfolk Virginia for curb service and the famous "Ringo" sundae. A blend of homemade Maola vanilla ice cream and crushed waffle cones, topped with hot fudge and a big red cherry. iPhone 5s.

The magic button for opening the doors on Norfolk Virginia's light rail system "The Tide". You've got to be in the present and ready to press when it turns green or you'll find your self on the way to the next stop. iPhone 5s.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

A case of Bronchitis this week left me coughing my head off. A visit to the doctor, antibiotics and this cough syrup with codeine was good for my body and my soul. Canon 5D Mark II, 100mm macro, 1/40 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Today is Sherlock's fourth birthday. Yes he is named after the famous fictional detective because of his insatiable curiosity. He goes by many names around our house, Lock, Lockmeister, Lockinator, Trouble with a capital "T", and assorted other names when his curiosity is out of control. But he's my totally devoted little buddy. Join me in wishing him a happy birthday. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/13 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 1600, 100mm macro lens.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Today I stand on a shadow lying on what will soon be the public forum floor of the new Slover Memorial Library in Norfolk Virginia. The bottom half of this diptych is me looking down at a shadow on the bare concrete floor. The top half is looking up at the foliated space frame ornamental work by the Kent Bloomer Studio which is casting the shadow at my feet. Canon G15.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

This rubber ducky grew and grew and grew and then grew some more. The Duck by artist Florentijn Hofman at Norfolk Virginia's Hague for the grand reopening of the Chrysler Museum of Art. Olympus OM-D E-M1, 1/5 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 800.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

I often take a walk around downtown at lunchtime to get away from the pressures of work and think about something else. Today I walked one block to the Scope Arena Plaza to see a lunchtime performance by the amazing Cirque Mechanics on the Gantry Bike. Nothing like being a part of a vibrant downtown. Canon G15, 1/1250 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 1600. I should have knocked down the ISO setting to at least 800 if not 400 for this pic. I wanted maximum depth of field to keep things in focus and a high shutter speed to freeze the action, unfortunately the high ISO gave me a little more "grain" in the photo than I wanted. Otherwise, I was pretty happy with this shot, I hope you enjoy it.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Eating a healthy lunch at Chartreuse Bistro is a favorite of mine. Chef Chris Corrie worked up this wonderful dish: pan seared halibut, French lentils, spinach and chorizo butter sauce. It was almost too pretty to eat. What to do, take a picture of course, and then chow down. iPhone 5s using Instagram.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Activity - the treadmill at Fitness Together in Norfolk Virginia conveniently has a heart defibrillator located near by. Forty-five minutes of increased heart rate each day from activity, helps to keep the defibrillator away. Canon G15, 1/80 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 1600.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Today prompt - "Check Up", take care of yourself and make your next doctor's appointment. Well I already had one on the books, so I pulled up my trusty "Sentara My Chart" app to double check my appointment for next month. My Valentines Day orchids and my office helped to fill the frame. Canon G15, 1/250 sec @ f/2.2, ISO 200.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Our grand-dog Digby expects a new toy every time we visit and we never disappoint. Here he is today playing with his new toy. Olympus OM-D E-M1, 1/40 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 1600. Converted to black and white using Silver Efex Pro.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Being resourceful, I put an old Hurst T-Handle from my 1973 Mustang Mach I to good use. Meet the ultimate in performance mice, the Logitech-Hurst Darkfield T-Handle. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/160 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800 photographed in a light tent with two LED Litepanels for illumination.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Blades from a Gillette Fusion razor at 5x magnification. At this level of magnification you can clearly see the grinding marks from the placing of the edge on the blades. Canon, 13 seconds at f/16.0, ISO 100, MP-e 65mm macro lens, lit with a Litepanels Micro LED light, mounted on a tripod.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Behold "bookBot" at North Carolina State University's new Hunt Library. This robot-driven bookBot automated book delivery system holds up to 2 million volumes in 1/9 the space of conventional shelving, enabling the library to provide more space for learning and collaboration. The bookBot is 50 feet wide by 160 feet long by 50 feet tall and is excavated 20 feet below the first floor. You know your a geek when you drag your wife to see a high tech library on your wedding anniversary. Canon G15 1/40 sec @ f/3.5, ISO 800.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Today's challenge was to photograph a flower from a different perspective. I saw these daisies in a pot outside of a bike shop in Raleigh North Carolina. Following Katrina's lead, I took my picture from below using the face cam on my iPhone. I liked the way it captured the sun's rays illuminating the daisy. iPhone 5s, Camera+ App.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

May's #CY365 theme is about vision. While today's cameras are quite remarkable at capturing what we see, their "vision" is not at all equal to our own eyes. Our eyes eye can actually perceive a greater dynamic range than is ordinarily possible with a camera. If we were to consider situations where our pupil opens and closes for varying light, our eyes can see over a range of nearly 24 f-stops while 8-12 f-stops is generally all one can expect from a digital camera. This is most evident in low light photography especially when bright highlights are present, such as a stage performance.

Tonight Cindy and I went to see Rob Thomas at the Durham Performing Arts Center. It was an intimate performance with just two musicians joining Rob Thomas on stage. The overall lighting was low but there was always a spotlight on the star. Even with spot metering enabled, my camera struggled to get the low light background exposed, resulting in an sharply overexposed star. Manual exposure or severe exposure composition is the only way to capture the scene and avoid blown-out highlights. Since the camera can only capture a limited dynamic range, much of the scene is underexposed. So every picture is a trade off, while our eyes make the adjustments consistently and our brains composite the image so we see much more. And yes, the show was amazing. Canon G15, 1/80 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 1600.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

I love watching the ferns come back to life in the Spring. They sprout new stems and uncurl the beautiful leaves from a tightly wound center, one of the many uplifting signs of Spring. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/160th sec @ f/11.0, ISO 1600, 100mm macro.

Monday, April 28, 2014

The number four is represented in binary as 0100. I created a batch file to produce a "Matrix digital rain" like display on my computer screen and then captured it with my iPhone using the Camera+ app. I then applied a square crop, the Clarity effect and the So Elmo filter to get the final image. Anyone care to guess how many "fours" are in the photo?

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Today's challenge was "Square", as in a square crop - a la Instagram, with a focus on the rule of thirds for composition. So a triangle inside a square crop seemed be the answer for me. iPhone 5s using Instagram with the Sutro filter applied.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Our Colorado Blue Columbine has a night visitor. The little spiders are everywhere tonight. Almost every bloom I looked at across the yard had the busy little spiders working away. Canon 5D Mark II 1/160 sec @ f/11, ISO 1600, two LED light panels.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

I often walk through the churchyard in Downtown Norfolk's St. Paul Episcopal Church. The oldest parts of the current building dates to 1737 but other church buildings occupied the site for years before. It is a peaceful oasis in an otherwise busy downtown, Canon G15, 1/30 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 100.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

We gathered at my Mom's today for Easter Lunch with the family. My brother Mark and his friend Vicki made these great Easter basket cupcakes for the occasion. They look almost too good to eat. iPhone 5s, Camera+ App.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Come on in to Lunar Golf for a little black light fun. We took our grandson Robert to his best friend's Jacob's birthday party today. The kids had a great time and it all looked very cool. iPhone 5s, Camera+ App.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Optimistic about Norfolk's new Slover Library opening early in 2015. This is the ceiling the restored first floor of Seaboard Building part of the library. The Seaboard Building was originally built 1899 as a Federal Courthouse and Post Office, a role it served until the 1930's. It then became Norfolk's City Hall for the next 30 years. iPhone 5s, Camera+ App.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Today I stand on one of two large bronze compass point maps of downtown Norfolk's historic sights. This one is located directly opposite of the Freemason Street Baptist Church. Gabriel's bright gold horn is atop the church's steeple which was the tallest point in the City in the later half of the 19th century. The Freemason Street Baptist Church is one of three buildings in Norfolk Virginia designed by Thomas U. Walter who was famous for his design of the dome for the U.S. Capital Building. The church was completed in May 1850 in a revival of the style known as "Perpendicular Gothic." This Victorian period revival style was characterized by its reliance on decoration and ornamentation rather than structure. iPhone 5s, Camera+ app two images combined in Photoshop Elements.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

No opportunity for a siesta or a siesta photo today, so I pulled out an appropriate one from a trip to La Jolla Cove last year. This pelican was clearly enjoying the midday sun and an opportunity for a siesta. Canon 7D, 1/1250 sec @ f/10, ISO 200 telephoto zoom at 340mm. Just so you don't think I'm a 365 slacker, here's today's rainy day photo.